Okay I'm moving this from the classic board. It is the only story I have going that is short enough to move

I'm posting the three posts that were on the old board in one post, then the new post.

[link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=10117454] OLD LINK [/link]
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This is a sequel to [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1697837&start=3395288]'Ordinary World'[/link] which is my (not finished yet) Prequel to Healer Leona's A.U. story [link=http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=2329596&start=2674706]'Should As Strangers We Meet.' [/link]

You don't have to have read either to enjoy this story. What you do need to know is that in this reality Obi-Wan never became a Jedi, and Qui-Gon Jinn was killed by Xanatos near the time of Bandomeir. The Qui we all know and love was transported to that reality by a machine, turned this lost Obi's life around, and returned to his own reality. This story starts in the ep.iii time.
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"What I Really Am."

Never made it as a wise man,
Couldn't cut it as a poor man stealing.
This is how you remind me,
of what I really am.
-Nickleback

"Qui-Gon Kenobi are you out of your mind?" Obi-Wan couldn't believe what his oldest son was telling him. "If I didn't let them have any of my children, why would I be happy to hear you were considering letting them test Zinka?"

"I just thought that if she had the chance to be a Jedi," Qui told his father, "you of all people would understand."

"Well I don't, and your mother will understand even less. Do you think she'll let them take her first and only grandchild away from the Chaboska without a fight?"

"It's not up to her, or you. It's up to Dardu and me."

The senior Kenobi shook his head in disbelief. Even if his eldest child was a grown man and a father himself, this defiant tone was something new. "Up to you and Dardu? When did either you or your life mate become head of this family?"

Qui huffed at his father's words, which was more like the son Obi-Wan knew. "Is this your idea, or hers?"

"Don't go there, Dad."

Obi-Wan had never hid the fact that he thought his son's wife had an invisible retraining bolt that she controlled him with. A year had passed since Obi-Wan and Danni had agreed to the bonding of Qui-Gon and the girl from another Terrian clan.

"You know I swore when you were born," Obi-Wan stated more than asked.

"That none of your children would be given to the Jedi," Qui said. He had heard it a billion times in the twenty years of his life. True to his word Obi-Wan Kenobi hadn't even let any of his five children be tested for midichlorian levels. All of them were Force-sensitive, he and Danni needed no test to know that. "But Zinka isn't your child, Father, she's mine."

"So you're going to let them test her?" Obi seemed resolved to that fact. Qui nodded, he knew his father still disapproved.

"That's what I get for naming you after a Jedi." The older Kenobi took a deep breath. He was trying to understand his son's thinking. "And you are prepared for the consequences of that test? You'll let them take her if it's high?"

"Dad, you grew up in the Temple," Qui argued. "You make it sound as if I'd be shipping her off to Kessel."

Qui-Gon Kenobi was glad to see his sister Alexia and brother Patrin barging into the bridge of the family ship. They were sure to change the subject for a while.

This is the new bit.
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Obi-Wan played with his younger children for quite a while. He had even convinced Danni that she could get just as tan while helping build a sand castle as she could sitting on their blanket.

"Yeah sure," Obi-Wan mumbled as he bent over to build his daughter's requested moat; he was giving his wife a excellent view of his backside.

"There's the reason I married you," Danni said to herself.

Obi-Wan looked at his wife through his knees as he was bent over. "My moat-digging abilities?" Kenobi hadn't caught her true meaning and continued to dig around the children's castle.

<"Look, Dad."> Robi was the first to see his brother's return.

As soon as his youngest son had sent it, Obi saw through his knees his middle son, and his nephew flanked by two Bothans -- Bothans wearing uniforms. He stood up and turned to face the local officials.

"Mr. Kenobi?" one of the Bothans inquired.

"Yes," Obi-Wan replied and waited to hear the details.

"I understand that one of these is yours."

"Yes." Obi-Wan glared at Patrin. The Kenobi kids had been taught from an early age, if you're going to get into trouble - - at least don't get caught. "But I'll take both of them. What did they do?"

"Uncle, why do you think we did something?" Margus, the son of Danni's cousin, asked with an incredulous tone.

"Because," Obi-Wan began, "whenever you two are together, there's trouble."

"Dad, that's a rather broad statement," Patrin defended.

"Are you trying to tell me you didn't do something? That you're not in trouble?"

"Umm, no."

"Sir, if I might," one of the Security officers interrupted. "These two young 'gentlemen' were caught cheating at a game of skill, and underaged wagering."

"Really - -" At first a slight smile was breaking out on Obi-Wan's face. 'The bird doesn't fly far from the nest.' Then he saw momma bird's cross expression, and put on a serious face.

The other security officer added, "How they got into the casino in the first place is beyond me. They're lucky the owners were embarrassed enough not to press charges."

"Yes, they are lucky indeed," Obi-Wan commented. "Thank you for bringing them back." Obi-Wan motioned for the boys to walk away from the Bothans. When the boys did, the first officer stepped forward.

"Hold on," he called. "We are releasing them into your custody, but we don't want to see them in Tal 'Cara again."

"But the festival starts tonight," Patrin whined.

"As a matter of fact," the officer continued. "We're also here to deliver this."

The Bothan man handed a document to Obi-Wan. "If you could pass this on to the rest of your kind, it would be appreciated."

Obi-Wan didn't have to open the document to know what it was, an evacuation notice.

"We'd like you all out before nightfall."

"And if we feel like staying?" Obi-Wan asked.

"There may be a lot of angry swindled people that we don't have enough officers to protect you from." The officers turned around, leaving behind a crestfallen group.

Margus grabbed a handful of wet, sloppy sand from the castle's moat and prepared to hurl it at the retreating Bothans. The sand missile never reached them. With a flick of his hand, Obi-Wan pulled the watery sand out of the air and back down to the ground.

"Uncle - - " Margus scowled.

"We don't need more trouble," Danni answered this time.

Obi-Wan was surprisingly silent. No matter how many planets they got kicked off of, for legitimate reasons or not, it always bothered the man. He had been raised to treat all people with respect, and not to judge an entire group because of the actions of a few. Patrin Kenobi was waiting for his father's usual speech on how he was no longer a child, he was becoming a man, and what kind of example was he set

I love the sassiness between Obi-Wan and Danni!! LOL! "How they got into the casino in the first place is beyond me. They're lucky the owners were embarrassed enough not to press charges." -- hmm.. not to mention the owners getting in trouble for having underage clients!! Love the idea of the flowers that Lexie's discovered.

A superb post Jodi.. I look forward to seeing what happens in the future.

A light mist of rain began to permeate the surface of the many landing platforms Bant and Ben had led the children to. Bant didn't mind the moisture, it felt good on her amphibious skin. To her it was like a blessing on their mission. Judging by the many times her apprentice had wiped his face, Ben didn't look like he felt blessed. Ben would rather have the hood of his Jedi cloak to fend off the perspiration than the disguise of an Imperial officer that he wore. He felt bad for the children with fur; they did not complain, but he could feel their discomfort. Ben didn't look impressed with where they had arrived.

"This is the right place, Padawan," Bant assured him. "We just have to find the right ship."

"Captain Bartles could have made it easier if he had just told us what platform he was docked at," Ben complained.

"And if we were captured, the Imperials would find out as well."

"Master?" Ben protested. "I'd like to think I'm stronger than that. You know I'd never give them - - "

"I know you wouldn't, but Captain Bartles wouldn't take the chance."

Ben rolled his eyes in a manner that Bant thought her apprentice had outgrown. "We're trusting him," he moaned. "He should trust us."

"If it were that simple," Bant pointed out, "we wouldn't be in the mess we're in now."

Bant saw the young Jedi make another face that reminded her of another young human she used to know.

"As always, Master," Ben started with an arrogant air. This made Bant wonder, but her color changed a shade that showed she was pleased when her apprentice finished, "You are right."

"Master?" This time Ben sounded contemplative. He stopped walking to ask, "Do you think Anakin has truly turned to the dark side?" Organa could not hide his worried face. "That he's really betrayed us?"

"After your last conversation, you still have doubts?" Bant tilted her head and continued to walk. They had to find the ship with the correct clue painted on it. As they looked for the mark, Ben thought back a few months, to the last time he'd seen Anakin before he became 'Lord Vader'.

"Ben, you know the ways of the Jedi are obsolete, old, and arcane," Anakin said as he strode back and forth in front of his meditating friend.

"Do I?" Ben opened one eye to see Anakin's reaction. He was trying his hardest to stay in a neutral state of mind. He was trying to understand why Skywalker would back the Emperor.

Anakin didn't even break his ranting, he kept trying to convince Ben that the Empire was a good thing. "It is up to us, the young, to drag the followers of the Force into the future."

This time Ben stood to speak. "And what if the followers of the Force don't want your Emperor's idea of the future?"

Anakin's face scowled; his mouth and nose wrinkled in anger. "Be careful who you talk to in such a manner. Palpatine is your Emperor as well." Anakin casually picked up a chunk of clay from the base of one of the many plants that surrounded them. "Those who oppose us will be crushed." To demonstrate his point he crushed the lump of clay; the sandy remains fell to the carpet. "Don't be stupid, Ben." He didn't sound so much like the friend Ben had known all these years. Skywalker's voice now had a dark tone to it. "Leave with me now. Serve the Emperor as I do."

Ben wondered if Anakin was actually trying to mind trick him into leaving the Temple right then and there. The way Ben chuckled to himself showed Anakin it would not be as easy to convince Organa to join the other young Jedi who had abandoned the ways of the Order. He tried a different tactic.

"Do you remember when we were kids?" Anakin began. "How we said when we grew up, we would be heroes, and right the wrongs of the galaxy? You always said you wanted to fix all the corruptions of the Republic."

Ben did remember their words as young padawans. They had vowed not to let some of the injustices they had seen older Jedi ignore go uncorrected when they were kn

Obi-Wan searched the streets of Tal'cara for any of the Terrians that hadn't heard they had been asked to leave Kothlis. The star port was full of people from other worlds who had come for the Bothans' festival. Unlike the Bothans of their home world Bothawui, the Kothlis Bothans were friendlier; usually. They seemed to have invited every other manner of beings, including Hutts, but wanted to kick the Terrians out. The celebrations were not due to begin until nighttime, but many of the visitors wanted an early start. The biggest attractions of the festival were food, entertainment and gambling. The gambling was exactly what had attracted the Chaboska in the first place. It was a huge chance to earn easy money. Easy because half of them would outright cheat, and the other half knew how to manipulate the Force to the outcome they wanted -- usually.

Kenobi expected to see his wife's uncle at one of the gambling booths, but he had not expected to see him wagering with a Hutt. Efram was caught off guard when Obi-Wan grabbed him by the elbow and pulled him away from the gambling table to ask him, "What are you doing?"

The older man did not like the younger one talking to him like he was a wet behind the ears youngster. "Trying to win," Efram gruffly answered. "Now that you are here you can make sure I do."

"We have to get back to camp. The Bothans are kicking us off Kothlis."

"I'm not going anywhere until my business with the Hutt is over."

"How much have you lost already?" Obi-Wan questioned.

"None of your business." Efram's answer told Kenobi it was a lot.

"We're going to need every credit we've got to get to another planet."

"Then stop nagging me like a fishwife and help me."

"You know it's still not a guarantee you'll win." Obi-Wan knew sometimes his connection to the Force failed him. Somewhere in his subconscious, the teachings of the Temple still gnawed at Kenobi. The Force was not a toy to play with. On occasion when it was a mater of survival, Obi-Wan managed to be sure of the outcome of trying to use the Force to cheat, but other times it had let him down. "We have to go, now."

"Yeeees???" Obi-Wan found nothing unusual about Twi'leks serving a Hutt. They were at a distance where he couldn't really tell what they were up to. He took a closer look, they seemed to be harassing a young human dressed in the same manner they were. The girl was being pushed back and forth between the two dancer's. It was not until then Kenobi saw the collar and the chain around the girl's neck.

"Stand still, you little slave brat," one of the dancers said as she yanked on the chain.

The young woman choked, but she still tried to pull away from the Twi'leks. Obi-Wan figured the girl to be around fifteen. He had seen many like her before, unfortunate to have landed in the clutches of a powerful Hutt who only saw the young human as a play thing for his amusement.

Obi-Wan turned back to Efram so the Hutt would not hear. Pretending not to care, he asked, "How is that one any different than any other slave?"

"She's Terrian, she's one of the Sinte clan." Efram knew how to affect Kenobi. "Wouldn't you want other Terrians to free any of your children if they were so unfortunate?"

Efram didn't have to hear an answer, he knew, Obi-Wan would do far more than cheat to get any of his children back. He looked at the girl again. It might not have been fair, but knowing she was one of them made Kenobi much more sympathetic to her plight.

"Human!" The Hutt bellowed out. "Are you ready to lose more credits? I am not going to stand here while you chat."

"I've wasted enough already. She's not worth what I've already lost." Efram faked losing interest to get the Hutt to gamble with Kenobi.

The Hutt made a rumbling sound. He did not know the two humans were Terrians. He thought the old man just wanted the you